1. How to regain control of your social networks.

2. Written by Jason Willcox

3. Introduction This is a beginner’s guide to using the website Hootsuite to better manage your social networking. Within this guide I will show why there is a need for a site like Hootsuite. Then I will walk you through the setup of an account with the service and show you how to optimally set it up. To fully understand this paper, you will need to have a basic knowledge of the social networks you have accounts with and be comfortable interacting with a web browser. Once this guide is followed, you will find yourself in a much less anxious place in regards to managing your social networking and will find more time to get off the computer and live your life in the real world.

4. Please be warned, as you work through this guide you will be required to link your social networking accounts to Hootsuite. This is not terribly concerning, as they take precautions to keep your information secure. However, like any other web service, there is always the possibility of someone hacking the service and gaining access to your information. To me, this is a very unlikely scenario. You will have to make the decision for yourself before continuing with the guide. Warning

5. Why do we need Hootsuite?

6. Social Network Overload Between Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare and others, social networks dominate the web. It is very easy to waste time jumping between sites as you try to stay on top of your social networks. Why should you login to multiple accounts on multiple sites, when you can check them all in one central location?

7. Social Network Overload OR

8. A step by step guide How to setup Hootsuite

9. 1. Signup for a Hootsuite account at www.hootsuite.com.

10. 2. Add a social network to your new Hootsuite account.

11. To connect an account, it will require you to login.

12. 3. Add another social network to Hootsuite.

13. To connect an account, it will require you to login.

14. 4. Add other social networks until all accounts are added.

15. 5. Setup tabs to organize your networks.

16. This will allow you to see various content from your social media on your tabs. It is a simple and easy way to view everything quickly. Once the new tab is created, add various streams to it.

17. Example of Tabs Above is an example of tabs I have setup for a few of my accounts. The Camp Stuff, Christian Stuff, and Prof. Develop tabs are all Twitter List tabs. The other tabs are for LinkedIn, Facebook and Foursquare.

18. 6. Update your status on one or more of your networks

19. 7. Look at your stats

20. Conclusion This concludes my beginner’s guide to using the website Hootsuite to better manage your social networking. If you have followed the steps above closely and correctly, you will find yourself able to manage your social networks more easily and in less time. Congratulations. Now spend a little time continuing to get familiar with the Hootsuite website. I have only touched on a few basic features in this beginner’s guide. To learn more, check out the Help section of the Hootsuite website.